The present invention relates to a jig for injecting a fixed amount of insulin and a manufacturing method thereof. In detail, it relates to a jig for injecting a fixed amount of insulin which can set the amount of insulin to be injected to a fixed amount by fixing, to an arbitrary position, a dial and, furthermore, an injection button of an insulin injector which moves an injection button up and down by a turn of a dial and in which the amount of insulin to be injected is determined according to the position of the injection button, and a manufacturing method thereof.
A diabetic patient injects/receives a hypodermic injection of a certain fixed amount of insulin, and the amount of insulin is appropriately increased and decreased depending on the condition and examination findings.
Therefore, as an insulin injector for injecting insulin by an amount according to each patient and his/her condition, there exists an insulin injector as shown in FIG. 5. Namely, as shown in FIG. 5, the insulin injector has a dial 101 on the front central part and employs a method wherein an injection button 102 located on the dial 101 is moved up and down by a turn of the dial 101 and is set to a certain position, an injection needle 103 is inserted under the skin, and the injection button 102 is depressed, whereby insulin in a cartridge 104 arranged below the dial 101 is dosed by a fixed amount according to the height of the injection button 102, that is, the graduation of the dial 101.
In greater detail, by turning the dial 101 on the front central part clockwise, the injection button 102 located on the dial 101 rises according to the turning degree, and when the dial 101 is stopped at a certain fixed graduation, the injection button also stops at a certain fixed height, and the amount of insulin in the cartridge 104 to be dosed when the insulin injector is thereafter fitted to a human body, an injection needle 103 is inserted under the skin, and the injection button 102 is depressed to the lower limit corresponds to the graduation on the dial 101 and, furthermore, the amount of injection.
Although an insulin injector which employs a method wherein, as mentioned above, the amount of insulin to be injected is increased and decreased according to the increase and decrease in graduation of the dial is satisfactory for ordinary diabetic patients, inconveniences occur in the following cases: 10-20% of diabetic patients have decreased vision and, therefore, have difficulty in turning and adjusting the dial to a graduation which they desire. Furthermore, 5-10% of diabetic patients have a decreased grip or a hand tremor, therefore, when they try to turn and adjust the dial to a desirable graduation, they cannot accurately adjust the dial because of passing over or an insufficient turn.
Accordingly, for such diabetic patients with decreased vision or a hand tremor, the above-described conventional insulin injector has never been easy to use, and by means thereof, a required amount of insulin has not been accurately injected, either.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a jig for injecting a fixed amount of insulin which can fix the dial at a fixed graduation so that not only ordinary diabetic patients but also diabetic patients with decreased vision or a hand tremor can inject insulin by an injection amount required for him/herself, and moreover, it is an object to provide a method for manufacturing a jig for injecting a fixed amount of insulin.
In order to achieve the above-described objects, a jig for injecting a fixed amount of insulin of the present invention is a jig for fixing a dial of an insulin injector which has a dial on the front central part and which injects insulin in a cartridge arranged below the dial by an appointed amount by, by a turn of the dial, moving an injection button located on the dial up and down for setting to a certain position and by depressing the injection button, comprising: a main fixture having upper and lower sandwiching portions for sandwiching and supporting an insulin injector from both sides, at upper and lower portions on the rear surface of the insulin injector; a screw fixing piece formed by extending one side of the upper sandwiching portions of the main fixture upward with a required quantity of screw grooves cut open; and outside of the screw fixing piece, an injection-button upper-limit position setting piece whose upper portion is bent inward and which has a slit opened at the lower part, wherein the injection-button upper-limit position setting piece is made freely movable up and down by screw fixation to the screw fixing piece by inserting screws through the slit.
In some cases, the above-described injection-button upper-limit position setting piece is attached to a position closer to one side of the main fixture. In such a case, screw grooves are also cut open at a position closer to one side of the main fixture. And in this case, the part of the main fixture where the screw grooves are cut open concurrently serves as a screw fixing piece.
Herein, the above-described insulin injector moves the injection button up and down by a turn of the dial located on the front central part, and the further the dial is turned clockwise, the higher the position of the injection button becomes, and the higher the position of the injection button is, the greater the amount of insulin to be dosed when the injection button is depressed becomes.
Moreover, in the jig for injecting a fixed amount of insulin of the present invention, since the upper portion of the injection-button upper-limit position setting piece is bent inward, this bent portion comes into contact against the upper surface of the injection button and stops the injection button from further rising. Moreover, since the injection-button upper-limit position setting piece employs a method wherein screws are inserted through its slit and the front ends of these screws are fixed by a screw fixing piece, the screws can be loosened and the injection-button upper-limit position setting piece itself can be moved up and down, therefore, the vertical position of the bent portion of the injection-button upper-limit position setting piece can be freely changed. Accordingly, the upper limit of the injection button, that is, the turning degree of the dial can be freely changed, and according thereto, the amount of insulin to be dosed can be freely changed.
In addition, a method for manufacturing a jig for injecting a fixed amount of insulin to achieve the above-described objects is a method for manufacturing a jig for fixing a dial of an insulin injector which has a dial on the front central part and which injects insulin in a cartridge arranged below the dial by an appointed amount by, by a turn of the dial, moving an injection button located on the dial up and down for setting to a certain position and by depressing the injection button, comprising the steps of: forming a main fixture having upper and lower sandwiching portions for sandwiching and supporting an insulin injector from both sides, at upper and lower portions on the rear surface of the insulin injector; forming a screw fixing piece formed by extending one side of the upper sandwiching portions of the main fixture upward with a required quantity of screw grooves cut open; and forming, outside of the screw fixing piece, an injection-button upper-limit position setting piece whose upper portion is bent inward and which has a slit opened at the lower part, wherein the injection-button upper-limit position setting piece is made freely movable up and down by screw fixation to the screw fixing piece by inserting screws through the slit.
According to this manufacturing method, on one side of the upper sandwiching portions of the main fixture, a screw fixing piece is formed in a manner extending upward with a required quantity of screw grooves cut open, therefore, the main fixture and screw fixing piece can be integrally fabricated, and for example, if the material thereof is metal, by carrying out bending subsequent to press-forming, fabrication can be easily carried out at a low price.
The aforementioned is a case where the material of the jig for injecting a fixed amount of insulin of the present invention is metal, however, it may be plastic in addition to metal, and if the material is plastic, injection molding is normally carried out after a mold is prepared.